"Your report on Biovail is not accurate. I am a media adviser to Biovail. Biovail did not drop its lawsuit, where (former Bank of America analyst David) Maris was one of many defendants. Instead, Biovail reached a settlement agreement with Maris and Banc of America Securities, in which Maris agreed to cooperate with Biovail as it pursues its lawsuit against remaining defendants. More info is available in a statement released by Biovail today."

Seth Faison Deputy Director, New York Office Sitrick And Company

Sure enough, Biovail put out a press release taking issue with the Post's account saying, "…contrary to implications in an article published by the New York Post today, it very much intends to proceed with its lawsuit against a group of hedge funds, analysts, investment and brokerage firms that Biovail alleged conspired to manipulate the market and drive down Biovail's share price to benefit their own stock positions."

Biovail says it expects the settlement with David Maris "to be extremely helpful in Biovail's pursuits of its lawsuit." According to the company, Maris will testify under oath and turn over all sorts of documents, emails, etc. And finally, the press release states, "…the (Post) article was also misleading and inaccurate in that it never named BAS (Bank of America Securities) in its lawsuit and thus, contrary to the NY Post report, it could not have dropped the bank from its suit."

I left a voicemail message and a message with an assistant yesterday for David Maris' two lawyers. Neither one has returned my calls.